University of Sheffield welcomes PM’s review of the development of antibiotics

As prime minister David Cameron warned that the world could soon be ‘cast back into the dark ages of medicine’ the University of Sheffield is leading international work to tackle the growing threat of resistance to antibiotics. 

Researchers at Sheffield’s Florey and Imagine projects are addressing resistance to antibiotics, one of the biggest biomedical problems of our age. New treatments will be essential as resistant strains proliferate and will help save countless lives.

Commenting on the prime minister’s announcement of the forthcoming review of the development of anti-microbial drugs, Sir Keith Burnett, vice-chancellor of the University of Sheffield said: "We were delighted to see that the prime minister has asked our Sheffield graduate Jim O'Neill to lead vital international work on this crucial area. The development of antibiotics means that many have lost sight of what it was like to be under constant threat from infectious diseases. 

“Today we are seeing the emergence of increased numbers of antibiotic-resistant pathogens. This is a pressing issue for global healthcare as the prime minister has explained. Essential work of the kind carried out by the Florey Institute at the University of Sheffield, is needed to reinvent our understanding of pathogens and develop new treatments that will help save millions of lives across the world."

Simon Foster, professor of Molecular Microbiology and Imagine project director, said: “We have forgotten what it is like to be under the constant threat of infectious disease, but this is something we are seeing more and more of as pathogens become resistant to antibiotics.”

“One of our failings is that we see the world from the perspective of a human timeframe. Diseases, of course, can adapt at dizzying speed, and our challenge is to wrong-foot them with innovative new treatments. 

“Antibiotic resistance is a pressing issue for human healthcare as highlighted today by the prime minister. The University of Sheffield has recognised the potentially dire situation in which we find ourselves and has launched our flagship Florey Institute specifically to tackle important antibiotic resistant organisms. 

“The Florey Institute will take an approach that spans the fundamental life of pathogens, how they interact with us and how we develop new treatment and prophylactic regimes. This learning could help save countless lives across the world."

The University of Sheffield has made a multi-million pound investment in two strategic and complementary projects - Florey and Imagine.

Together they will establish Sheffield as a centre for biological imaging and understanding of infectious disease associated with important antibiotic resistant pathogens.